Christmas in July days 30 and 31

For these last 2 days, I have thoughts of electronics.  Most people have portable devices of one kind or another.  To wind down on a simple note, offer a little fun, and a chance to try out something new, I have this idea.

Get some wool yarn.  Yes I know we are heading into the dog days of summer.  Save this for later if you like or find an air conditioned place to sit.  Grab a hook or pair of needles that will match your yarn to give you a little larger gauge.  For this I mean that if your ball band recommends a size H hook or size 7 needles to get the suggested gauge, go up 2 sizes.  If you already have to change your hooks or needles, go up 2 sizes from that.  Now grab a copy of a stitch dictionary and pick a bunch of stitch patterns you want to try.

My idea is this.  felted sleeves for portable electronics.  Measure your intended appliance, add 30% more stitches  (3 more stitches for every 10 needed to get the desired measurement).  Then knit or crochet the stitch pattern you chose.  Seam it.  Wash it to felt it either a little or a lot, but only until it matches your needed size.  Let air dry.

Let us use this example:  I have a portable device measuring 2 inches wide by 4 inches tall and is less than 1/2 inch thick.  My yarn suggests a size H hook or 7 needle to get 16 stitches to 4 inches.and 19 rows to 4 inches.  I know that means that I will need to chain or cast on for 11 stitches.  My math is this:  16 stitches divide by 2 is 8 plus 3 for the 30% (I rounded up).  19 rows is 4 inches but I know that felting also pulls vertically more than horizontally so I will add up to 40% more rows to counter this.  So 19 x 40% is 7.6 rows more, round it up to 8 rows.

I know that my pattern has to have space for 11 stitches wide and 27 rows for one side.  Small patterns for small devices allow for more repeats.  Cables require even more stitches for width.  I would add another 20% (2 for every 10 of original number.  Then add the felting 30% ).  So if I choose cables, I would start with 8 stitches plus 2 for cable plus 3 for felting to give me 13 stitches.

I could even choose 2 different patterns for front and back.  I would not choose laces for felting though.  The felting is there to offer some protection from the daily bumps and drops some things get.  The felting will also offer scratch protection.

If you've never intentionally felted anything, have no fear.  It's easy.  Once the Pieces are done and sewn together (I find it easier to sew before felting,).  A bucket of hot water with some soap and a long handled wood spoon are all you need to get started.  The hot water is one felting agent.  The soap provides lubrication for the fibers to slide together.  The spoon provides the agitation, another felting agent.  Do this outside under a shady tree if possible.  It will get you wet.  The idea is to viciously stir the bucket with the soapy water and one or two small objects for felting.  You will need to remove them from time to time to see if the felting is done far enough but not too far that you can't get your final object in.

Once felting is achieved, let air dry.  You can then add a zipper to the open edge or ties or a clasp of some kind.  Have fun and thanks for this journey through July with me.

Christmas in July day 29

Today part of my inspiration comes from a nephew whose birthday is the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.  For years he felt his birthday was skipped since presents and cake were not abundant or "lumped" together with a family celebration.  He also was unhappy since he favored summer sports and not winter sports but anyone who got him a present for his birthday invariably could only find hockey and basketball things at that time of year.  So today my inspiration comes from this website:

http://bettyconfidential.com/ar/ld/a/10-flirty-and-fun-summer-hats.html

I think a fun and flirty hat for summer is just what is needed.  Keeps the sun out of your eyes, possibly doubles as sun protection.  Make one for yourself or someone you love.  The hats on the site above are not hand crafting patterns, but they can offer inspiration and these are some of what I found.

http://www.caron.com/projects/ss/ss_elegant_hat.html

http://www.caron.com/vickiehowell/patterns/flopsy_hat/flopsy_hat.html

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/newsboy-hat

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/brimming-fun-cap-0

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/baby-boat-neck-sweater-and-sun-hat

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/visor-cap

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/summer-hat-3

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lovisa-summer-hat

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/summer-hat-2

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ipanema-hat

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pinwheel-sun-hat-8ply-or-dk-version

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/karens-summer-hat

Note you will need to sign in to Ravelry.com to access any patterns there.  It is a free account sign up, if you are not already a member.

Christmas in July day 28

Most women like adding some sort of adornment to their hair for holiday parties.  These can be done in seasonally appropriate colors, metals, beaded.  The possibilities are endless.

A few ideas to get you started would be hair ties, cover them with knit or crochet, beaded or not.

Headbands embellished with flowers or other favored shapes.

Clips, combs, barrettes all glitzed or glammed up can add interest in smaller doses.

For this idea I turn to some books at Michaels.com,

Crochet Bouquet

Suzann Thompson

200 Braids to Twist, Knot, Loop, or Weave

Jacqui Carey

100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet

Lesley Stanfield

These are just a few.  Check out your local store for more

Christmas in July day 27

Have you thought about doing jewelry with knit or crochet?  Kids can do friendship bracelets.  Teens can do the para-cord bracelets that are so popular.  But for something more sophisticated for tweens and older, you might want to try your hand at crocheting or knitting with wire and beads or fine crochet threads and beads.  There are a lot of nice patterns out there in beading magazines for this technique as well as some of the knit and crochet magazines.

Beads for this can be whatever your recipient or you like.  Too many glass beads though could make the piece heavy.  You could also do a mix of bead work (using head pins and such) with the crochet and/or knit piece.

Jewelry is always welcome for holidays, birthdays, births, anniversaries, any day of the week really.  Here are some ideas.

stranded necklace

rosebud-earrings

star street ensemble

pearly-crochet-jewelry

dream-catcher-earrings

In addition to these, a search using your favorite search engine will provide more possibilities than imagined.  Do some or all of these ideas with bead wire instead of yarns or threads and some memorable pieces could be made.

There are books at Michaels.com that have more starting points.

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  Beaded Bracelets to Knit

  Leslieanne Beller
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Christmas in July day 26

Today I think about plants.  I love to garden.  I hate to weed though.  My idea for today is how to bring some of summer indoors for the winter.  The answer is a  plant sling and nice plant.  I try to make sure nothing toxic goes to families with small kids who put everything in their mouth or curious animals.  I have started geraniums from my plants to give as gifts as well as seeds of favorite vine-like summer flowers to grow in the winter and bring some cheer.

I try to do a mix of houseplants or even Christmas cacti rather than poinsettias.  Traditionalist that I am, I only like the dark red ones and even then I get overwhelmed by them being everywhere.

A nice plant or mix of plants in a nice planter that has the option to hang is ideal.  No hook?  no  problem, there's a nice planter to sit somewhere.  Ho horizontal places to put a plant out of reach?  Again no problem, here's the way to hang it.

I used to like the large macrame hangers some  people made.  Now you can't readily find materials for this.  I can find a few crocheted patterns though and yarn is abundant that won't disintegrate.

plant hanger

felted-plant-hanger

knit-plant-hanger

plant hanger

pineapple plant hanger

New Classes are Available

I'm pleased to announce that we have new classes to offer.  They are learn to crochet classes for the kids with kid friendly projects.  These classes are only an hour and a half long to help keep the interest of the children on task.  They cost $15 each.  There are 3 to get them started.

This class teaches chaining and bead stringing

This class teaches single crochet and embellishing

This class teaches double crochet, seaming and embellishing.

Classes will be added to the class schedule soon.

Christmas in July day 25

Today there are exactly 5 months until Christmas, 4 months until Thanksgiving and just over 3 months until Halloween.

For Halloween, I sit out with the neighbors and hand out candy to the little goblins and witches who come calling.  Every year there seem to be less and less though.  When my children were little, we got a little more into the spirit with decorating.  They did things with construction paper in school that got hung on walls and windows when brought home.  We did tissue ghosts.  (Wad up 3 tissues, place in the center of a 4th.  Gather the tissue around the wad.  Use a twistie tie from a loaf of bread that is white to tie the neck and make a hanging loop for fishing line/invisible thread to hang by)  I did things like mystery foot prints for them to follow.  A treat was usually at the other end.  Some years I tried to make them treat bags.  Others they were given them at school as part of the effort to make everyone have their treats X-rayed for potential issues.  treat bags

For November, like most parents, I focused on parent teacher conferences and a week or more of having the kids home.  I also did most of the big dinner cooking once they were older.  I was one to want all the table linens to be cloth and hopefully handmade by me, (napkin rings were nice.  I did them in plastic canvas, crochet and beads on wire.) the many components of the dinner to be raised by our family (excluding the turkey since we lived in an urban area) or at least made by us from scratch.  No supermarket pies or boxed stuffing mixes, please.  I have relaxed a good deal since then.  I still want to set a nice table, but I focus even more on the people around it.  As the kids have grown and moved out and parents started to not be around, I have cut down on the number of dishes made.  No longer do I need 5 vegetables, candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing and 4 or more kinds of pie.  There just aren't that many people to eat that much.  We still play board games and card games after eating.  We also discuss where the various Christmas parties will be and when.  

Thanksgiving weekend is also the weekend (4 days of help from kids and husband) I decorate for Christmas.  There was only one year in all our marriage I didn't get decorating done.  Now I'm more lax about this too.  I still pull most of the stuff out and do most of what I did do, but it's more spread out.  I also make sure to have my cookie list made up, but like everything else, that has shrunk.  Not having an oven that works right now has helped with the lightening of this load.  Since we moved 12 years ago, I started putting up snowflakes.  See here and here for those posts.

By mid December, we try to have the gifts we wanted to buy all purchased.  I work to make sure the gifts that needed making are done.  Like some many women though, I have a lot of late nights finishing things.  I have been known to weave ends on the way to a party and jam things into a gift bag.  I have also been known to give only one sock when I don't have the recipient handy to measure and need to make sure it will fit.  This is easier with immediate family than extended.

This year the gift I'm giving me is the gift of me.  I don't have to be perfect.  The Pope, Martha Stewart, President (insert your own imagined tough critc) won't be visiting.  Yes, I want to make it nice for people, but being nice is more important that being stressed to the breaking point.